PlayStation Plus

If you aren't a member of PlayStation Plus, Sony has released a new trailer to show you the reasons why it's neat. If you are buying a PlayStation 4 on Friday, you should definitely think about signing up for Plus, since you'll need it to play multiplayer, and it gives you some free games.

Sep 20 //
Chris Carter
PSOne Classics
There are 213 PSOne Classics currently on the PSN, and a lot of them are must-plays. Despite the fact that everything hasn't aged as well as one would hope, there are a ton of amazing games that can be enjoyed on the go with enhanced Vita features. Sadly, not all of them can be transferred to the PlayStation Vita without a PS3, but there's still a decent amount of compatible games in general.
For starters, it's important to get Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX out of the way, as well as Resident Evil 1-3. Then you have Tomb Raider II (which has aged considerably better than the first game, although you can get the original in the form of Tomb Raider: Anniversary by way of PSP compatibility), Tomba!, Twisted Metal 2, UmJammer Lammy, Vagrant Story (this plays wonderfully on the Vita and takes up hardly any space), Xenogears, Threads of Fate, Silent Hill, Oddworld 1-2, MediEvil, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Jumping Flash!, Dino Crisis 1-2, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Beware of Square Enix-related PSOne remakes such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy V, as they tend to preserve the long load times of the PSOne disc originals. Final Fantasy Tactics PSOne is totally fine however, as it's the PSP remake titled War of the Lions that has a ton of slowdown -- go figure! Mega Man 1-4 are also available by way of the PSOne Import section.
PSP games and minis
This one comes with another caveat -- PSP games must be purchased from the PSN, meaning UMD-only PSP titles that are not available digitally such as Crisis Core, Mega Man Powered Up, or Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep cannot be played on a Vita. It's a major bummer, but the good news is the amount of direct PSN purchases is much higher than PSOne Classics.
Plus, there are still a lot of great PSP games to choose from, and games like Peace Walker PSP can make use of the Vita's second stick (or you could just buy Peace Walker HD!).
My personal recommendations include Ape Escape: On The Loose, Capcom Classics Collection 1-2 (requires a PS3), Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, Crash Tag Team Racing (requires a PS3), Daxter (requires a PS3), Disgaea 1-2, Dissidia: Final Fantasy 1-2, Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection, God of War: Chains of Olympus, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Half-Minute Hero, Jeanne D' Arc (requires a PS3), Knights in the Nightmare, Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, LocoRoco 1-2, Me & My Katamari, Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Parappa the Rapper, Patapon 1-3, Peggle, Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle, Power Stone Collection, Prinny 1-2, The Red Star, SMT Persona 1-3, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together.
Phew!
There's also a few great PlayStation minis games worth playing, like Where is my Heart?, Canabalt, Mighty Flip Champs! DX, and Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess.
The PSN and PlayStation Plus
Okay, so we're out of the land of caveats and into the real meat of the PS Vita: the PSN and PlayStation Plus. Yep, that's right -- a little after the Vita's launch, Sony announced that PlayStation Plus would work on both your PlayStation 3 and your Vita, which is a great sign. You'll get a few free games a month, including several solid ones in the Instant Game Collection like Gravity Rush, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and WipEout 2048. If you own a PS3, PlayStation Plus is absolutely worth it without question.
As for the Vita's PSN itself, there are gems like Guacamelee!, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R, Jet Set Radio, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD, Orgarhythm, Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate, Sine Mora, KickBeat, Dokuro, Sound Shapes, and Uncharted: Fight for Fortune. The Vita is also an indie port machine, with high-profile titles like Fez (coming soon), VVVVVV, Thomas Was Alone, Spelunky, Hotline Miami, Retro City Rampage, and many more seeing Vita ports. In fact, playing indie games on the go is probably the one major advantage the Vita has over the 3DS.
Retail games
My favorite game on the Vita is far and away Gravity Rush. I've torn into nearly every bit of the game, including all of its DLC, and I still wanted more. You can play this by way of PS+, so I recommend you pick up that subscription.
If you're not down with subscriptions, you can also pick up Killzone: Mercenary, Muramasa Rebirth, Soul Sacrifice, Persona 4 Golden, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, LittleBigPlanet Vita, Lumines: Electronic Symphony, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (Cross-Buy), Dragon's Crown, Rayman Origins, Rayman Legends (wait until they patch the missing content in though), PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (Cross-Buy), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, and Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention.
While I don't consistently play my Vita as much as my 3DS, the fact of the matter is it has a solid library, so don't count it out just because of low hardware sales.

The Vita has no games you say?The 3DS had a chance to shine with a recommendations article and now it's the Vita's turn. With the release of Killzone Mercenary and a tidal wave of indie ports on the way, the Vita has quite a few titles under its belt.
Wha...

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Aug 22 //
Dale North
Resogun looks great with its sharp edges and its eye popping lighting effects. One of the coolest visual aspects is that the game's world is made up of little cubes. Its fully destructible environment has stray fire busting up walls and flooring. They all do this neat thing where they kind of disintegrate and fall downward. And as you progress through each level, you're actually slowly destroying this world, bit by bit. If you manage to beat the boss the entire world blows up into little cubes. Housemarque says that the game's engine is capable of displaying 500,000 on screen at any time, in full HD at 60 frames per second. They're already working the PS4 hard.
There's this nice feeling of accessibility even with all of the bullets flying anywhere. If you're well-versed in shmups, you'll do fine. But if not, there's still hope for you. Some guidance I received after dying a few times had me relying on a refillable forward boost. This move adds temporary invincibility, letting you get out of messes a bit easier. This combined with spread bombs worked as training wheels until I got a good feeling of the game's movement.
Once I got that down, I fell into this pleasant, focused trance. After a clean series of dodges, close calls, well-timed boosts, and clean back shots, I was grinning ear to ear. My score multiplier was climbing and I felt powerful. But just as I got cocky, the game ramped up with several different kinds of attackers, coming from all directions. The trance faded a bit, though I still was having a blast.
Resogun throws a small twist in to keep things interesting. One of the control labels has a funny name: "Throw Human." It turns out that you'll look for "the last humans" alive and pick them up. They flail and dangle behind your ship until you can manage to safely take them to transport points. If you happen to be boosting by a transport point, you can actually throw the human in the proper direction. Properly transporting humans away from alien invaders will give you power-ups and other benefits.
It seems they're still sitting on some details for Resogun. Perhaps co-op play? We'll have to wait and see.
I was pleased to learn that a title with such great gameplay will be available at launch. Better, it's free with PlayStation Plus.

First hands-on with Housemarque's latestHousemarque's latest, announced at this week's PlayStation press conference at gamescom, is PS4 title Resogun. Any fan of Super Stardust HD or Super Stardust Delta would be glad to hear that this game is a spiritual successor...

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Sep 12 //
Ian Bonds
Jet Set Radio (PC, PlayStation Network, PlayStation Vita, Xbox Live Arcade [reviewed])Developer: SmilebitPublisher: SegaReleased: September 11, 2012 (PS+) / September 18, 2012 (PSN) / September 19, 2012 (PC, XBLA) / October 16, 2012 (Vita)MSRP: $9.99 (PC, PSN, Vita) / 800 Microsoft Points (XBLA)
The concept of Jet Set Radio is fairly simple: street gangs tag neighborhoods and speed about the city on hi-tech in-line skates while avoiding the police and rival gang members. Tagging is done with directional motions on the analog stick, and tricks are performed almost automatically as you grind on rails, wallride, and flip about after jumping. The whole experience is offset by the game's striking cel-shaded visuals and diverse soundtrack of J-pop, techno, and hip hop tracks.
On the plus side, the HD visual upgrade is fantastic. The cel-shaded graphics popped back in the day, but the widescreen presentation and updated resolution really help this title shine. When compared to the original, this new version just seems so much brighter. The dark outlines give everything a graffiti quality, not just the art you're so intent on tagging onto walls and the occasional person. The HD coat of paint works well, and series fans will be thrilled to know that, except for two tracks, all the songs from every regional version of the game are included -- to be honest, I don't even remember which ones didn't make the cut).
However, when it comes to the gameplay, you'll find not much has changed. This is not necessarily a good thing. While the techniques are simplistic in their execution -- your skates magnetically attach to any grindable object -- you'll find yourself fighting with the camera and clunky movement controls, just as you did with the original. The skaters all perform like bricks on wheels -- not much tight handling -- while the tagging motions are hit or miss in their responsiveness.
Tagging is often an analog stick quick time event, and time management in choosing your tagging areas is key, as after a certain number of targets are tagged, stronger police forces are unleashed. The analog controls are actually not as responsive as one would want, which is made all the more difficult when trying to tag while being bombarded by tear gas and gunfire.
These were the same issues I had with the original when it was released on Dreamcast, and I was hoping there would be some improved controls in this HD release, as there were in the pseudo-sequel Jet Set Radio Future. While minor camera control is now mapped to the right analog stick, there are still prevalent clipping issues, and the presentation tends to block visuals at the most inopportune times. As the game cuts away to watch the cops frustratingly stomp their feet as you make a daring leap away, you remain in motion, so by the time the view cuts back to you, you have to quickly orientate your character so you don't fall or get caught just as you escape. This is only exacerbated by the lengthy fall or trip animations as you helplessly tumble from heights.
It pains me to say it, but I may have been a little blinded by nostalgia on this. I played the original a bit again before playing the new version for review, and while the updated visuals were a stunning improvement, the fact that not much else was expanded upon is a bit upsetting.
Jet Set Radio is still a fun title, but also a frustrating one. If you've never played the game before, you may be left wondering what all the hype was about. It may be a good game, but if it had been released for the first time today, many would see it as unfinished.

Oh, the late 90s/early 2000s. In-line skating, graffiti, techno-infused Japanese pop, and the Sega Dreamcast ruled my life, in and out of gaming. It was a better time, a simpler time. However, nostalgia can be a funny thing. ...

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Adventur...